May

The 15th Istanbul Biennial, to be held 16 September - 12 November
2017, will be curated by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, who state that their focus will be on “collaborative efforts and processes“ in the
context of the present geopolitical situation “experiencing a new rise of nationalism.”

Elmgreen & Dragset (Michael Elmgreen, dr.h.c. and Ingar Dragset, dr.h.c.) are an artist duo who have worked together since 1995. Their artistic practice spans many genres, including installation, sculpture, performance, and theater. Their work has been included in the Istanbul (2013, 2011, 2001), Liverpool (2012), Singapore (2011), Moscow (2011, 2007), Venice (2009, 2003), Gwangju (2006, 2002), São Paulo (2002), and Berlin (1998) biennials. The artists were shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2000 and won the Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin in 2002. In 2012, Elmgreen & Dragset were selected for London’s Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square. They were awarded honorary doctorates at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2015.

The conceptual framework of the 15th Istanbul Biennial will be announced at a press meeting to be held in fall 2016. The media preview of the biennial will be on 13 September, and the professional preview on 14 and 15 September 2017.

Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s 'Crystal & Flame' (2010) and Gülsün Karamustafa’s 'Create your own story with the given material' (1997) have been acquired by the Guggenheim, NY and will be part of the museum’s upcoming exhibition 'But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa'.

The third exhibition of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, 'But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa’ (29 April – 5 October 2016), will illuminate contemporary artistic practices in the Middle East and North Africa and the region’s diaspora. Presenting a selection of newly acquired works for the Guggenheim’s permanent collection, this exhibition will feature installations, photographs, sculptures, videos, and works on paper from a broad selection of artists. Following its presentation in New York, the exhibition will travel to Istanbul’s Pera Museum in 2017. The exhibition is curated by Sara Raza, Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, Middle East and North Africa.

To date, MAP’s acquisitions program has brought more than 107 works by 85 artists and collectives into the Guggenheim’s permanent collection. More than 7,000 students, teachers, families, and art enthusiasts have participated in over 80 interactive education programs, developed jointly by the Guggenheim and its institutional partners across the world specifically for local audiences. In addition, MAP’s website at guggenheim.org/MAP offers a wealth of content, including videos by artists and curators, artist profiles, blog posts by international curators and critics, and interactive learning tools.

Ergin Çavuşoğlu (born in Bulgaria, 1968) studied at The National School of Fine Arts “Iliya Petrov”, Sofia in the early 1980s. He consequently received a BA in painting from the University of Marmara, İstanbul, MA from Goldsmiths, University of London, a PhD from University in Portsmouth and his Professorship from Middlesex University. Ergin Çavuşoğlu currently lives and works in London, United Kingdom.

Gülsün Karamustafa, Create your own story with the given material, 1997 child-sized white cotton shirts, sewn shut with black cord in a meditation on the plight of immigrant children in Turkey. Courtesy the artist, Rampa Istanbul & Guggenheim NY

Born 1946 in Ankara, Turkey Gülsün Karamustafa lives and works in Istanbul and is one of Turkey’s most outspoken and celebrated artists. She has a forty-year oeuvre distinguished by installations, paintings, sculptures, and videos that examine the complexities of gender, globalization, and migration.

Cevdet Erek studied Architecture at Mimar Sinan University. He has been a member of the music band Nekropsi. He received his graduate degree in Sound Engineering & Design from Istanbul Technical University - MIAM (Center for Advanced Studies in Music). He was an artist in residence at Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2005-2006. He currently lives in Istanbul and continues to work at Istanbul Technical University.

In October 2016, Zilberman Gallery will officially open the doors to its new gallery space and artist studio in a turn-of- the-century building of Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighbourhood. Home to one of the first galleries of modern art more than a hundred years ago, this area is once again housing some of the most exciting contemporary art spaces in the city. Zilberman Gallery will offer artists the opportunity to live and work in Berlin as part of its new artist-in-residence programme, wich will be a hallmark of its activities in Germany.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has announced a shortlist of 11 artists and designers for the 4th edition of the Jameel Prize, including CANAN and Cevdet Erek. The prize’s corresponding exhibition will be held at Pera Museum in Istanbul, marking its first ever launch at an external venue. Organised by V&A in partnership with Art Jameel, the exhibition will be on view from 8 June - 14 August 2016.

Over 280 nominations for the Jameel Prize 4 were received from countries as far ranging as Afghanistan, Mali, Puerto Rico and Thailand. A panel of judges, chaired by V&A Director, Martin Roth, selected the shortlist. Works on show will range from delicate paper collages to an animated video installation with marionettes and from ceramics, calligraphy and sculpture to artist’s books.

Ahmet Ögüt and Aslı Çavuşoğlu will participate in this year’s edition of Manifesta taking place in Zurich, Switzerland from 11 June – 18 September.

Ögüt’s work 'Silent University' is part of 'The Historical Exhibition: Sites Under Construction', a show which gathers artworks and non-art-specific materials from the past 50 years. Meanwhile, Çavuşoğlu has been researching how representations
of landscapes feed into the construction of national identity. Approaching this issue through
the lost continent of Mu, which according to myth sunk into the Pacific, she is working with a picture restorer to search for the hidden landscape in Swiss landscape paintings - both uncovering the layers beneath and altering each picture’s surface. For there is an idealised image of Switzerland that is just as non-existent as Mu. Atatürk, founder of the Turkish state, thought Mu was the cradle of Turkish civilisation. The Alps, too, play a large part in Switzerland’s self-perception as a fortified and independent nation.

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